It’s not just some genre film, populated by actors who need a tax write-off. The story is unique (more on that, later), great actors have been cast as characters who are, emotionally, three dimensional, and there is a perfect ending you didn’t see coming.

Any author would be proud to write a book meriting the same praise.

The plot in a nutshell: It’s the future (duh, of course!) and well-paid assassin’s in a dystopian society are paid to kill bad guys from an even more distant future (by, say thirty or so years). The bad guys appear in a pre-determined place, at a pre-determined time, their faces covered in a gunnysack. The assassin’s reward, silver bars, is taped on the victim’s back.

Now, the conundrum: Eventually the assassin will kill themselves. They will know they’ve done so, because the bars taped on the victim’s back are gold. When this happens, they can official retire with the money they’ve collected for all their hits…

But of course they realize that, one day, they too will suffer the fate of their victims, at their own hands.

The anti-hero, an assassin named Joe (Gordon-Levitt) messes up by allowing his older self (Willis) escape. Old Joe wants to kill the boss man who is ordering all the hits on the assassins.

Young Joe wants to make good on his faux pas, before his boss’s henchmen make him pay for it with the loss of a limb, and a life in a box, until his “time” comes. Otherwise, the balance of time-space continuum is thrown out of whack…

In my teens, I read a lot of science fiction. I still have one of my favorites tomes in that genre: an Isaac Asimov anthology. But could I write a good sci-fi novel? At this point, I’d say no. It is a skill I’ve yet to hone. Instead, I’ll enjoy the works of others who do it so well, including sci-fi greats Philip K. Dick, Cormac McCarthy, and our very own Sophie Littlefield, who’s “Aftertime” series is hitting it out of the park.

I’m always in awe of novelists who can “break genre,” and write in a different voice. I eat up MSW’s Karin Tabke‘s medieval historical Blood Sword Legacy series, although I’d discovered her contemporary “hot cops” first. MSW’s Stephanie Bond’s Body Mover romantic mystery series is a delight that both Martin and I enjoy immensely, albeit she’s known the world over for her Harlequin Blazes. And Sophie did it with her distopian sci-fi, which was so different from her Bad Daymurder mystery series

CONTEST ALERT!Be sure to enter my contest for a $100 Gift Card to the Bookstore of Your Choice! Look for details, here…

Also: For a free KINDLE COPY of this digital eBook, comment below on your favorite sci-fi book or story , and why it resonates with you. Winner for the free book will be announced here on MSW, on Saturday.

Up until last week, if I’d held my breath for any word as to what’s been happening with the TV deal for Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives, I’d have been blue in the face, like a little girl throwing a tantrum because she wants to get up at 4am on Christmas morning to see what Santa left under the tree.

But for the most part, I’ve been holding my powder. I don’t send my agent emails every hour on the hour begging for updates. I haven’t given the producers my wish list as to who should be starring in key roles.

I haven’t asked for a walk-on, and TRUST ME, I never will. (I’d hate to have them say I broke a camera lens because I looked at it…)

But come on already, what author wouldn’t be gnawing her fingers to the bone?

Especially when it comes down to who will be cast as her heroine.

Invariably an author has an image in her mind as to what her heroine looks like. She knows the exact shade of her leading lady’s eyes. She can envision the highlights in her hair (natural, of course). To the centimeter, she knows how tall her heroine stands. (In her stocking feet, until she puts on her four-inch stilettos, and all that implies…)

She even knows the number of pounds she needs to lose–

Um….Excuse me? What, are you crazy?

She. Is. Perfect.

Because she is me.

She is me when she is strong and victorious.

She is me when the whip-smart dialogue flows trippingly off her tongue.

She is me when she has been callously kicked to the curb by Mr. Wrong, and she wants to curl up in a ball of anguish.

There are still more roles to cast, sets to build, and no doubt a few more tweaks to the teleplay. When, finally, they roll cameras, they’ll have tons of scenes to be edited together into a shiny gem of a show, and it will get a thumbs-up from the NBC studio executives, as well a slot on the network’s schedule in January, or thereafter…

Anyway, that is the hope: not just mine, but of all the HUNDREDS of people who have worked on the show. Yep, it takes a village to make TV magic….

Like a salmon, Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives has got to swim upstream through many perils, which could include a mediocre time slot, or heavy competition in a great time slot, or subsequent scripts that aren’t up to par.

Bottom line: it has a find a few million viewers who look forward to tuning in and watching it, week after week.

I hope you’ll be among them.

Which brings me back to my Murder She Writes family. One of the joys I’ve had is discovering, and reading, the books of the other authors who also blog here. TV is eagerly seeking out kick-ass heroines with hearts of gold. Past and present MSW pals have also had discussions with producers who, like their myriad of fans, have fallen in love with their heroines, and want to bring her to life onscreen.

I’ve no doubt you’ll be seeing a few of them on your favorite networks. It’s only a matter of time, and all stars aligning (heavenly and Hollywood).

In the meantime, I love imagining who will play their heroines. Here is my short list:

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Bio:

Allison Brennan

Allison Brennan is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of nearly three dozen romantic thrillers and mysteries, including the Lucy Kincaid series and the Max Revere series. She lives in Northern California with her husband, five children, and assorted pets.